NRL CEO Todd Greenberg Says Match Fixers Will Be Kicked Out Of The Game Forever

Not the sort of news the code was hoping for after a successful Origin I.

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg was thin on details but thick on intent as he spoke for the first time about allegations of match fixing in the NRL which emerged earlier on Thursday.

"This is not yet a formal investigation by police. There are no specific charges yet. They are in the early stages of making an assessment," Greenberg said.

"But let me be clear, whatever they want, they will get from the NRL and our integrity unit.

"This [match fixing] is a threat that exists in all sport in this country and globally. If any allegations are proven, then we will ban anyone found guilty for life.

Greenberg said that he was confident that the "absolute overwhelming majority of our players and officials who love this game" would never compromise the integrity of the sport.

"But if -- and at this point it is if -- it is proven, we will take any action necessary.

Greenberg said 99.9 percent of the men and women involved in rugby league do so with "passion, integrity and commitment".

It's the 0.1 percent which appears to be of concern to NSW Police at the moment.

EARLIER

NSW police are investigating two matches after claims of match-fixing in the NRL.

"The Organised Crime Squad is in the early stages of examining information to alleged match-fixing in the NRL," a police spokeswoman said. "No further comment is appropriate at this stage."

It's understood that two games are under the microscope. They are the round 16, 2015 clash between South Sydney and Manly Sea Eagles (which Souths won 20-8), and the round 24 clash between Manly and the Parramatta Eels (which the Eels won 20-16)

Rugby league has been rocked before by "spot fixing" allegations in the past but never by match fixing.

Spot fixing is deliberately fixing the outcome of a particular moment in a match. This allegedly took place in 2010 when a huge amount of money came for the unusual option of a penalty goal as the first scoring option.

Bulldogs player Ryan Tandy was accused of deliberately giving away a penalty in the front of the opposition goalposts. He denied any involvement but was arrested and found guilty of manipulating the first scoring point of the game. Tandy died of a drug overdose in 2014.

Match fixing, as the name suggests, is the act of deliberately engineering the result of a sporting contest.

You can read the match reports of the two games in question here and here.

The NRL issued a statement saying it was cooperating with authorities in relation to information regarding allegations of match fixing.

"The NRL is treating this as a serious matter and will take any action necessary to protect the integrity of the game," a spokesman said.